Opening Thoughts about Religion)
Many people have very different stand points about what the term religion really means. People can view religion as a way of guidance, a path to a life of perfection, or as a way to lead a life of complete self awareness. This wiki is going to delve into the various standpoints of what religion means to many different people. The information that you will be observing will focus on two different religions, which are Christianity and Buddhism, and how they are similar and different at the same time. The information on this wiki comes from many sacred texts and speeches that a World History class in the magnet school Science Leadership Academy has researched in the month of October.
Now apart from the main question about what religion is and the discussions and arguments that have aroused from it, this wiki will dig deeper into the reason of why each religion appeals to each person aside from heritage and a shared mindset.
Question
What is the main factor that has made people want to follow their respective religion back in the day?
The Religions
Christianity
This religion is one of the most commonly worshiped religion around the world. Some of main components that Christians believe in is that the Son of God, which is Jesus Christ, was sent down to earth in order to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind. The old testaments or rules that Christians worship comes from the bible. Based on the given sources that have researched in and out of class there has been an implied understanding of this religion that has reoccurred. And that understanding is that the beliefs and values of Christianity have stayed the same throughout the centuries. However the extremism of this religion has drastically changed as some of the quotes and analysis will show.
Quote #1: ¨On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere¨ (Source: Pope Urban II Speech)
Analysis: People who worship this religion, Christianity, believe that there is only one God and that his Son Jesus Christ came down to Earth in order to save humanity from the sins they committed. These are the basic facts that surround this religion in the past and present. People who follow this religion are allowed not to worship their God in their own view but are allowed to fight for what they believe in. Even though this quote is really a piece taken from a text, which purpose is to rally warriors to got to war and kill enemies of their religion, this quote really brings to light the lengths that Christians would go for their religion. Unlike Buddhism, which is the second religion that this wiki will be focusing on, this religion can be a pacifist like Buddhism but depending on if the situation has the same standards as the ¨Just War¨ regulations Christians are allowed to fight for their religion. So overall people who believe in the old testaments from the bible and those who were in the time period of Pope II could fight and protect what they believed in.
This quote that was conveyed to the Christians by Pope Urban the second in 1095 really draws the line and shows the differences between Buddhism and Christianity. While the Pope is trying to rally the soon to be crusaders to fight against the enemies of God, which were the Turks and the Islamic warriors, he is also echoing what values Christianity had as well. The old testaments state that Christianity is meant to be a peaceful religion but according to the World Religions website Christianity had a rule of ¨Just War¨. Now this regulation stated that Christians can only take a part in war against enemies of a religion, which in their view makes them an enemy of the Lord himself. In more depth Christians centuries before believed in the protections of their religion and overall the Lord, which makes this religion different in not only how to worship but also the extremism of it compared to Buddhism.
There is a connection between this quote and the Power of Myth source, which conveys to it's audiences how myth is really the foundations of the arts, traditions, and religions that we know today. One thing that I would like to make a connection about with this quote is when the Pope states
¨I, or rather the Lord, beseech you¨. This is connected to the roles that people take on when they are experiencing different roles in life, which is like the rite of passage that some religions have especially in the religion of Buddhism. I think that part of the reason that Christians followed the command of the Pope based on the role he was serving. Pope Urban II was playing the role of God's interpreter and was the head of Christian empire at the time.
Quote #2: ¨Although, O sons of God, you have promised more firmly than ever to keep the peace among yourselves and to preserve the rights...Christ commands it¨ (Pope Urban II Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095)
Analysis: As this article as stated before hand people who worship Christianity believe that Jesus was the savior of humanity and sacrificed his life to do so. This religion a millennium ago was very protective over the rights of their religion because in the eyes of Christians God's will ran through their religion.
People who worshiped Christianity unlike a lot of other religions like Buddhism gave their followers a lot more freedom in some ways. The just war cause, which was a very horrific act that this religion could conduct, represented the shire magnitude of how much Christians believed in rights of their religion and overall God himself. The fact that in 1095 Christians went on a crusade for their religion and slaughtered their enemies not only for God, whom they worshiped through Christianity, but for their allies proves how different this religion is. In addition from what has been observed from a lot of sources a commonality has come to light. Christians can express their religion through going to church, abide by the ¨Just War¨ principles, and they also have the ability to freely express their beliefs.
Compared to Buddhism a person can understand that Christianity is the complete opposite of the view points that a person who worships Buddhism has. Now unlike a lot of religions Christians, based on this text, are able to be an extension of the Lord, which they serve. When the Pope was giving this speech in order to rally his fellow Christians to arms against their enemies his words inspired them to take on the ¨role¨ of a voice of God like the Pope was taking on. As one can see Buddhism is a religion where someone tries to ascend past the rebirth cycle in order to achieve a God like persona. In addition not a lot of religions actually give you a chance to be a true extension of your own religion, to fight for it and become one with the God that you worship. So to answer the question of why this quote is important, it is important to understand the context and what Christians believed in at that time period so that you can see the difference in the religion today.
Buddhism
This religion was founded or is based off of the life of an ordinary man turned holy and his name was Siddhartha Gautama. After Siddhartha witnessed an old man, an ill man, and a corpse he became intent on escaping the inevitable cycle of a human, which is birth, living, and ultimately death. Those who worship Buddha believe in leading a life of non-violence in order to achieve a greater path of life beyond that of the ordinary. In addition Buddhist want to attain complete spiritual awareness by following a pacifist way of life.
Quote #1: ¨The pursuit of desires and of the pleasure which springs from desire, which is base, common, leading to rebirth, ignoble, and unprofitable; and the pursuit of pain and hardship, which is grievous, ignoble, and unprofitable.¨ (Source: Buddha's First Sermon)
Analysis: According to the Buddha's First Sermon source a Buddhist can be able to ascend from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth by going down the right path. Many discussions have taken place about all religions and how immortality has been implied as a main factor in why each respective religion was established. For example when a person is released from the cycle of rebirth they are able to see and understand themselves spiritually and mentally, which means that they are not bound to the world by desire or hatred. These are the two paths that can ultimately lead a person to a life full of sorrow and anguish. As the quote state it really conveys how person needs to live out their lives in order to reach spiritual awareness. And in order to escape these two paths that many people who are ignorant to this religion you must follow the Middle Way, which is the path of Tathagata.
This quote embodies why this way of life or worshiping this religion, Buddhism, has appealed to many people over the past centuries as well as the present day. In terms of people who believe in the idea of spiritual awareness and being able to understand the differences between mind and body this religion would be a perfect suit. Buddhism is a religion for people who really want to have a guide in life while respecting the lives of the people around them in order to keep their inner selves clean. In addition so as to not go down the two paths of desire and hatred one must kind be able to have discipline over their bodies. However this is only for people who truly believe in the ethics of the rebirth cycle like Siddhartha Gautama believed in.
Quote #2: ¨The story of human suffering, striving, living and youth coming to knowledge of itself, what it has to go through¨ (Source:Power of Myth)
Analysis: In context this quote is a part of what Buddhism means to it's followers. People who want to lead a life full of non violence so that they can ascend past the boundaries of the rebirth cycle are represented by this quote. Like the past analysis's have spelled out all religions in some way shape or form give people the essentials of how to become immortal or in other become one with their spiritual being so that they no longer have any attachments to the earth. Like the first quote the two paths that a ¨wanderer¨ should not seek are paths that will lead someone to earthly attachments because based on what Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, has displayed attachments lead to desire and sorrow.
A lot of people see Buddhism as a pacifist religion but in reality it makes a lot of sense if one actually puts all of the pieces together. For instance if based on the information from this quote if a person endures the hardships of life and can become at one with themselves mentally and spiritually they have a chance of ascending to immortality. Therefore a conclusion can be made about this religion and why Siddhartha chose a non violent path. Non violence can lead to one of the paths that someone who worships this religion should not follow because a person has part taken in earthly attachments and are fighting for it in a violent way. After this it can lead a person down a path of sorrow and that same person who chose to act violently will not be able to reach immortality.
Another view point of this quote is that Buddhism can be looked upon as the religion of perfection. In the Power of Myth source the author talks a lot about how people follow religions in order to guide their lives so that they can become a perfect being. In more depth the author convey's to his readers that all people want perfection and God, who is the symbol that all religions focus on in some way shape or form, is perfection. So all religions depending on how you interpret them are to guide their worshipers to a life of beauty and perfection. Now Buddhism is one path way to becoming a perfect being in a sense.
Now the main question is why this quote is important and how people will learn more about Buddhism as a religion. The analysis paragraphs have really explained the ground work for Buddhism of course but it has also shown the similarities in all religions. People may think that their religions is completely different from another but both religions fall under the category of religions right? Buddhism has a lot of stereotypes circling around it that vary from a pacifistic view to a life full of suffering. All religions have stereotypes going around it that are sometimes true to a certain degree. In addition this quote shows you only one view point on life that a person can take on and lead. Overall all religions are not so different in fact they may have different customs but they are all worshiped in order to guide people with their lives.
According to the source above there has been a lot of discussion over religion and science and the actuality between the two views of thinking. It was very interesting to see the two belied systems, for instance one is basing it's system off of faith and the other in facts and logic. This argument has gone on for centuries and really sparked my interest in the two stand points and whether the the argument was resolved.
Later in this article there was a type of resolve to the matter. The question over how the universe and therefore life was created long ago. As one might guess scientist may believe in the ¨Big Bang¨ theory, which sprouts the idea that the universe that we know today exploded from a box. And people who worship religion believe that God created everything in his image. The article goes onto ask the question of what happened before the possible ¨Big Bang¨ and or God creating the universe in his image. Even though it was not a resolve to the dispute both ways of thinking were at a stalemate on this question.
Overall it was very interesting to see how much controversy there is around the world that has gone on for centuries. In addition the fact that this source provided two different stand points one that most people believe to be based on facts and the other is based almost entirely on faith, depending on your way of thinking. As much as scientists would like to prove facts wrong based on experiments, research, and other facts science is in the same boat as religion. There is really no way to actually prove and have solid defined evidence to prove which stand point is true.
Final Thoughts
After completing this project I have gained a lot more knowledge about why people follow religion. That is the main reason why I chose my questions because many people have stereotypes about what each religion has but not a lot of people actually take the time to delve into a random religion to see what it is all about.
In terms of definitions of religion I think that it can be a variety of things. People can not put down one definition because religion is so much more to people than anyone could possibly imagine. I did not know half of the information that I do now about Buddhism before completing this project. And I can honestly say that I had some neutral thoughts about what this religion would be like and what it would offer to people who worshiped it. My thoughts still fall under the category of stereotypes even if they are neutral and I think that the reason that there is so much controversy and hatred going around in the world about religions is mainly because people hear things about one religion and automatically assume other things about each religion.
I had a lot of fun with this project because after making sure that I had the specific requirements that were needed I had a lot of freedom to do creative things with my wiki space. I think that giving students a chance to write analysis' about a specific quote was a nice touch because there are so many different mind sets and interpretations of each religion and it is interesting to combine those into one project through a wiki.
These are some questions to think about after you read the wiki. These are optional and are here if you to think deeper about what religion is as it pertains to a variety of different things.
1. What does religion mean to you?
2. Can it be defined by only one definition?
3. According to the Power of Myth source we all have roles that we grow into over time. And based on the information each person who takes up a role like president, officer, judge, etc. are only acting based on their specific role. Do you think that this is accurate? Can someone be judges as an individual or not? Think back to when Pope Urban II allowed the Christians to basically slaughter the enemies of the Lord.
Opening Thoughts about Religion)
Many people have very different stand points about what the term religion really means. People can view religion as a way of guidance, a path to a life of perfection, or as a way to lead a life of complete self awareness. This wiki is going to delve into the various standpoints of what religion means to many different people. The information that you will be observing will focus on two different religions, which are Christianity and Buddhism, and how they are similar and different at the same time. The information on this wiki comes from many sacred texts and speeches that a World History class in the magnet school Science Leadership Academy has researched in the month of October.
Now apart from the main question about what religion is and the discussions and arguments that have aroused from it, this wiki will dig deeper into the reason of why each religion appeals to each person aside from heritage and a shared mindset.
Question
What is the main factor that has made people want to follow their respective religion back in the day?
The Religions
Christianity
This religion is one of the most commonly worshiped religion around the world. Some of main components that Christians believe in is that the Son of God, which is Jesus Christ, was sent down to earth in order to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind. The old testaments or rules that Christians worship comes from the bible. Based on the given sources that have researched in and out of class there has been an implied understanding of this religion that has reoccurred. And that understanding is that the beliefs and values of Christianity have stayed the same throughout the centuries. However the extremism of this religion has drastically changed as some of the quotes and analysis will show.
Quote #1: ¨On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere¨ (Source: Pope Urban II Speech)
Analysis: People who worship this religion, Christianity, believe that there is only one God and that his Son Jesus Christ came down to Earth in order to save humanity from the sins they committed. These are the basic facts that surround this religion in the past and present. People who follow this religion are allowed not to worship their God in their own view but are allowed to fight for what they believe in. Even though this quote is really a piece taken from a text, which purpose is to rally warriors to got to war and kill enemies of their religion, this quote really brings to light the lengths that Christians would go for their religion. Unlike Buddhism, which is the second religion that this wiki will be focusing on, this religion can be a pacifist like Buddhism but depending on if the situation has the same standards as the ¨Just War¨ regulations Christians are allowed to fight for their religion. So overall people who believe in the old testaments from the bible and those who were in the time period of Pope II could fight and protect what they believed in.
This quote that was conveyed to the Christians by Pope Urban the second in 1095 really draws the line and shows the differences between Buddhism and Christianity. While the Pope is trying to rally the soon to be crusaders to fight against the enemies of God, which were the Turks and the Islamic warriors, he is also echoing what values Christianity had as well. The old testaments state that Christianity is meant to be a peaceful religion but according to the World Religions website Christianity had a rule of ¨Just War¨. Now this regulation stated that Christians can only take a part in war against enemies of a religion, which in their view makes them an enemy of the Lord himself. In more depth Christians centuries before believed in the protections of their religion and overall the Lord, which makes this religion different in not only how to worship but also the extremism of it compared to Buddhism.
There is a connection between this quote and the Power of Myth source, which conveys to it's audiences how myth is really the foundations of the arts, traditions, and religions that we know today. One thing that I would like to make a connection about with this quote is when the Pope states
¨I, or rather the Lord, beseech you¨. This is connected to the roles that people take on when they are experiencing different roles in life, which is like the rite of passage that some religions have especially in the religion of Buddhism. I think that part of the reason that Christians followed the command of the Pope based on the role he was serving. Pope Urban II was playing the role of God's interpreter and was the head of Christian empire at the time.
Quote #2: ¨Although, O sons of God, you have promised more firmly than ever to keep the peace among yourselves and to preserve the rights...Christ commands it¨ (Pope Urban II Speech at Council of Clermont, 1095)
Analysis: As this article as stated before hand people who worship Christianity believe that Jesus was the savior of humanity and sacrificed his life to do so. This religion a millennium ago was very protective over the rights of their religion because in the eyes of Christians God's will ran through their religion.
People who worshiped Christianity unlike a lot of other religions like Buddhism gave their followers a lot more freedom in some ways. The just war cause, which was a very horrific act that this religion could conduct, represented the shire magnitude of how much Christians believed in rights of their religion and overall God himself. The fact that in 1095 Christians went on a crusade for their religion and slaughtered their enemies not only for God, whom they worshiped through Christianity, but for their allies proves how different this religion is. In addition from what has been observed from a lot of sources a commonality has come to light. Christians can express their religion through going to church, abide by the ¨Just War¨ principles, and they also have the ability to freely express their beliefs.
Compared to Buddhism a person can understand that Christianity is the complete opposite of the view points that a person who worships Buddhism has. Now unlike a lot of religions Christians, based on this text, are able to be an extension of the Lord, which they serve. When the Pope was giving this speech in order to rally his fellow Christians to arms against their enemies his words inspired them to take on the ¨role¨ of a voice of God like the Pope was taking on. As one can see Buddhism is a religion where someone tries to ascend past the rebirth cycle in order to achieve a God like persona. In addition not a lot of religions actually give you a chance to be a true extension of your own religion, to fight for it and become one with the God that you worship. So to answer the question of why this quote is important, it is important to understand the context and what Christians believed in at that time period so that you can see the difference in the religion today.
Buddhism
This religion was founded or is based off of the life of an ordinary man turned holy and his name was Siddhartha Gautama. After Siddhartha witnessed an old man, an ill man, and a corpse he became intent on escaping the inevitable cycle of a human, which is birth, living, and ultimately death. Those who worship Buddha believe in leading a life of non-violence in order to achieve a greater path of life beyond that of the ordinary. In addition Buddhist want to attain complete spiritual awareness by following a pacifist way of life.
Quote #1: ¨The pursuit of desires and of the pleasure which springs from desire, which is base, common, leading to rebirth, ignoble, and unprofitable; and the pursuit of pain and hardship, which is grievous, ignoble, and unprofitable.¨ (Source: Buddha's First Sermon)
Analysis: According to the Buddha's First Sermon source a Buddhist can be able to ascend from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth by going down the right path. Many discussions have taken place about all religions and how immortality has been implied as a main factor in why each respective religion was established. For example when a person is released from the cycle of rebirth they are able to see and understand themselves spiritually and mentally, which means that they are not bound to the world by desire or hatred. These are the two paths that can ultimately lead a person to a life full of sorrow and anguish. As the quote state it really conveys how person needs to live out their lives in order to reach spiritual awareness. And in order to escape these two paths that many people who are ignorant to this religion you must follow the Middle Way, which is the path of Tathagata.
This quote embodies why this way of life or worshiping this religion, Buddhism, has appealed to many people over the past centuries as well as the present day. In terms of people who believe in the idea of spiritual awareness and being able to understand the differences between mind and body this religion would be a perfect suit. Buddhism is a religion for people who really want to have a guide in life while respecting the lives of the people around them in order to keep their inner selves clean. In addition so as to not go down the two paths of desire and hatred one must kind be able to have discipline over their bodies. However this is only for people who truly believe in the ethics of the rebirth cycle like Siddhartha Gautama believed in.
Quote #2: ¨The story of human suffering, striving, living and youth coming to knowledge of itself, what it has to go through¨ (Source: Power of Myth)
Analysis: In context this quote is a part of what Buddhism means to it's followers. People who want to lead a life full of non violence so that they can ascend past the boundaries of the rebirth cycle are represented by this quote. Like the past analysis's have spelled out all religions in some way shape or form give people the essentials of how to become immortal or in other become one with their spiritual being so that they no longer have any attachments to the earth. Like the first quote the two paths that a ¨wanderer¨ should not seek are paths that will lead someone to earthly attachments because based on what Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, has displayed attachments lead to desire and sorrow.
A lot of people see Buddhism as a pacifist religion but in reality it makes a lot of sense if one actually puts all of the pieces together. For instance if based on the information from this quote if a person endures the hardships of life and can become at one with themselves mentally and spiritually they have a chance of ascending to immortality. Therefore a conclusion can be made about this religion and why Siddhartha chose a non violent path. Non violence can lead to one of the paths that someone who worships this religion should not follow because a person has part taken in earthly attachments and are fighting for it in a violent way. After this it can lead a person down a path of sorrow and that same person who chose to act violently will not be able to reach immortality.
Another view point of this quote is that Buddhism can be looked upon as the religion of perfection. In the Power of Myth source the author talks a lot about how people follow religions in order to guide their lives so that they can become a perfect being. In more depth the author convey's to his readers that all people want perfection and God, who is the symbol that all religions focus on in some way shape or form, is perfection. So all religions depending on how you interpret them are to guide their worshipers to a life of beauty and perfection. Now Buddhism is one path way to becoming a perfect being in a sense.
Now the main question is why this quote is important and how people will learn more about Buddhism as a religion. The analysis paragraphs have really explained the ground work for Buddhism of course but it has also shown the similarities in all religions. People may think that their religions is completely different from another but both religions fall under the category of religions right? Buddhism has a lot of stereotypes circling around it that vary from a pacifistic view to a life full of suffering. All religions have stereotypes going around it that are sometimes true to a certain degree. In addition this quote shows you only one view point on life that a person can take on and lead. Overall all religions are not so different in fact they may have different customs but they are all worshiped in order to guide people with their lives.
Fun Fact)
Source: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/perspectives5.html
According to the source above there has been a lot of discussion over religion and science and the actuality between the two views of thinking. It was very interesting to see the two belied systems, for instance one is basing it's system off of faith and the other in facts and logic. This argument has gone on for centuries and really sparked my interest in the two stand points and whether the the argument was resolved.
Later in this article there was a type of resolve to the matter. The question over how the universe and therefore life was created long ago. As one might guess scientist may believe in the ¨Big Bang¨ theory, which sprouts the idea that the universe that we know today exploded from a box. And people who worship religion believe that God created everything in his image. The article goes onto ask the question of what happened before the possible ¨Big Bang¨ and or God creating the universe in his image. Even though it was not a resolve to the dispute both ways of thinking were at a stalemate on this question.
Overall it was very interesting to see how much controversy there is around the world that has gone on for centuries. In addition the fact that this source provided two different stand points one that most people believe to be based on facts and the other is based almost entirely on faith, depending on your way of thinking. As much as scientists would like to prove facts wrong based on experiments, research, and other facts science is in the same boat as religion. There is really no way to actually prove and have solid defined evidence to prove which stand point is true.
Final Thoughts
After completing this project I have gained a lot more knowledge about why people follow religion. That is the main reason why I chose my questions because many people have stereotypes about what each religion has but not a lot of people actually take the time to delve into a random religion to see what it is all about.
In terms of definitions of religion I think that it can be a variety of things. People can not put down one definition because religion is so much more to people than anyone could possibly imagine. I did not know half of the information that I do now about Buddhism before completing this project. And I can honestly say that I had some neutral thoughts about what this religion would be like and what it would offer to people who worshiped it. My thoughts still fall under the category of stereotypes even if they are neutral and I think that the reason that there is so much controversy and hatred going around in the world about religions is mainly because people hear things about one religion and automatically assume other things about each religion.
I had a lot of fun with this project because after making sure that I had the specific requirements that were needed I had a lot of freedom to do creative things with my wiki space. I think that giving students a chance to write analysis' about a specific quote was a nice touch because there are so many different mind sets and interpretations of each religion and it is interesting to combine those into one project through a wiki.
Sources)
Trivia)
These are some questions to think about after you read the wiki. These are optional and are here if you to think deeper about what religion is as it pertains to a variety of different things.
1. What does religion mean to you?
2. Can it be defined by only one definition?
3. According to the Power of Myth source we all have roles that we grow into over time. And based on the information each person who takes up a role like president, officer, judge, etc. are only acting based on their specific role. Do you think that this is accurate? Can someone be judges as an individual or not? Think back to when Pope Urban II allowed the Christians to basically slaughter the enemies of the Lord.